The present invention relates to a method of installing a decorative wheel cover to the front and rear wheels of a truck and, in particular, to a method which does not require the removal of the lug nuts retaining the wheel to the hub of the axle.
A truck is a very functional piece of equipment and the manufacturers of trucks subordinate the physical appearance of the truck to function. Truck manufacturers, therefore, do not provide wheel covers to improve the aesthetic qualities of the wheels of the trucks they manufacture and accordingly truck wheels are not manufactured with attachment points to which a wheel cover can be retained. Wheel covers and wheel liners, which attractively cover the functional portions of a truck wheel, therefore, must attach to functional portions of the wheel. One method commonly used for attaching a wheel cover is to provide a plurality of connectors which fit under the lug nuts which retain the wheel to the axle of the truck.
Laws regulating truck traffic differ from state to state, but in many states the truck wheels must be inspected for cracks emanating from around the lug nuts. Where a wheel cover is attached using a retainer fitted under a lug nut, the lug nut cannot be removed without the use of special air operated tools. Where such retainers are used, therefore, a truck subject to inspection must be directed off road to a site where the needed equipment is available and the lug nuts retaining the connectors removed.
Briefly, the present invention is embodied in a wheel cover and a retainer for retaining the wheel cover to the wheel of a vehicle where the vehicle has a hub with a plurality of identical threaded studs equally spaced around the center of the hub. The wheel has a plurality of holes therein positioned for receiving the studs and is retained against the hub by lug nuts threaded on the portion of the studs extending through the holes in the wheel.
In accordance with the invention, at least some of the lug nuts have a portion of the threading thereon extending beyond the lug nuts. The threads which spiral around the body of the lug nut have a crest which defines a cylindrical outer surface and have a valley between the crests which define an inner surface.
To retain a cover to the distal ends of the threaded studs extending beyond the lug nuts a first and second retaining members are provided. The first retaining member has a locking side having a first arcuate portion and a second arcuate portion spaced a distance from the first arcuate portion. Each of the first and second arcuate portions define a circle having a radius that is less than the diameter of the cylinder defined by the crests of the threads and greater than the diameter of the cylinder defined by the valleys of the threads of the studs. The centers of the circles defined by the first and second arcuate portions are spaced a distance from each other equal to the distance between the centers of adjacent studs.
The first retainer member is preferably made of metal and has upper and lower planar surfaces defining a thickness. In the proximity of the first arcuate portion and the second arcuate portion the thickness of the metal is beveled with the ends having a thickness that is less than the distance between the crests of the threads of the studs such that the first and second arcuate portions will engage the portion of the threads extending beyond the lug nuts of a first and a second adjacent studs.
The second retainer member is also made of metal with upper and lower surfaces and has a locking side positioned against the locking side of the first retainer member. The locking side of the second retainer member also has third and fourth arcuate portions, the inner edges of which define circles identical to the circles defined by the inner edges of the first and second arcuate portions of the first retainer member. The arcuate portions of the second retainer member also have bevels which reduce the thicknesses therefore in the proximity of the arcuate portions. The thickness of the beveled arcuate portions is less than the distance between adjacent crests of the threads such that the third and fourth arcuate portions of the second retainer member are complementary in shape to the first and second arcuate portions of the first retainer member and will engage between the threads of two adjacent studs engaged by the first retainer member.
The first and second retainer members are adjustably held together with the arcuate portions thereof fitted around the threaded distal ends of studs by any suitable means, such as a threaded bolt. The first retainer member further has a threaded hole therein for receiving a bolt extending through the cover for thereby connecting the cover to the first retainer method.